ICIRR Expresses Outrage Over Cruel TPS Decision

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is outraged at the Department of Homeland Security’s cruel and inhumane decision to cancel Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 2,500 Nicaraguans who have made their home here legally for over two decades. This decision also places 57,000 Hondurans in a dangerous state of uncertainty that may result in their forced return to the severe conditions of their home country in as little as six months.

Yesterday’s decision is just the latest example of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on all TPS holders, nearly 350,000 people from a variety of countries who have lived and worked here legally for years. Without TPS, families will be forced to uproot themselves from their homes and to return to countries that are not prepared to receive them, countries still facing violence and humanitarian crises. As many as 50,000 Haitians will be stripped of work authorization and will be prioritized for ICE removal when their TPS expires. Around 57,000 Honduran and 195,000 Salvadoran nationals face the same threat.

This rescission will tear families apart, as many TPS holders have children and extended family who are citizens and LPRs, and will further demonize these already vulnerable, but resilient, populations. These people left their home countries due to the devastating circumstances there and have rebuilt their lives from start in the U.S. They are integral members of our economies and communities, and it is shameful to adjust their status from legal to deportable with as little as one year’s notice.

We urge DHS for an increased understanding of the unique struggles of TPS holders, to reconsider its decision on Nicaragua, to further extend the deadline for Honduras, and to release extensions for Haiti and El Salvador.

For more information about resources and support for TPS holders, or to sign up to get involved in ICIRR’s efforts to advance immigrant and refugee rights in Illinois and beyond, please visit icirr.org/riseup

by Sara Rusnak, Program Coordinator

ICIRR is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society.